On this page, you can watch the video recordings of the conference proceedings. At some panels, we were also privileged to have artist and graphic note taker Sam Hester (http://www.the23rdstory.com) attend and create posters that visually capture the talks and these posters are also showcased on this page.
Opening Keynote: The Department of Political Science Annual Hurtig Lecture on the Future of Canada A public keynote featuring former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin "40 Years of the Charter: Where We've Been and Where We're Going"
Indigenous Peoples Chair:Chad Cowie (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Discussant: Matthew Wildcat (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Presenter: Robert Hamilton (Faculty of Law, University of Calgary), “Section 25: Indigenous Governance and the Charter” Presenters: Kiera Ladner (Faculty of Arts/Political Studies, University of Manitoba), Jeremy Patzer (Faculty of Sociology, University of Manitoba) “Charting Unknown Waters”
Official Languages and Quebec Chair: Nathalie Kermoal (Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta) Discussant: Fréderic Boily (Faculté St. Jean, University of Alberta) Presenters: François Larocque (Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa) (with Linda Cardinal, Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa) "Canada’s Bilingual Constitution: An Unfulfilled Obligation” Presenters: François Rocher and David Carpentier (School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa), “The Impossibility of Accepting a Differentiated Reading of Rights: Systemic Francophobia at the Heart of the Moral Superiority of the Dominant Anglo-Saxon Norms.”
Immigration, Diversity, and Multiculturalism Chair: Péter Szigeti (Faculty of Law, University of Alberta) Discussant: Arjun Tremblay (Politics and International Studies, University of Regina) Presenters: Alexandra Dobrowolsky with Bethany Leal-Iyoupe (Department of Political Science, Saint Mary’s University), “Shame Face? Equality, Diversity and the Justin Trudeau Blackface Scandal” Presenter: Jeanique Tucker (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta), White Knights and Capital: Private Sponsorship and Refugee Precarity in Canada” Presenter: Jack Jedwab (Association for Canadian Studies and Metropolis Canada), ‘Majority’ Rules? How Quebecers were Persuaded that Bill 21 is not Discriminatory”
Federalism and Charter Canadians Chair: Feodor Snagovsky (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Discussant: Lori Thorlakson (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Presenters: Johanne Poirier and Colleen Sheppard (Faculty of Law, McGill University), “Federalism and the Charter: Rethinking the Connections” Presenter: Matt James (Department of Political Science, University of Victoria), “Worlds Reversed: Charter Rhetoric and Charter Scholarship, Forty Years On”
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Talk: Entropy Law, Economic Processes and the Current Existential Crisis: A New Approach to Economic and Environmental Rights Presenter: Ramprasad Sengupta (Jawaharlal Nehru University) Moderator: Amer Abuhamed (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta)
Disability Rights Chair: James Muir (Faculty of Law, University of Alberta) Discussant: Evelyn Hamdon (Equity and Human Rights, University of Alberta) Presenter: Michael Orsini (Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies and School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa), “Disability in Movement? Tracing Ableist Histories of Social Movement Activism in a Post-Charter Era” Presenter: Trudo Lemmens (Faculty of Law, University of Toronto), “Ableist presumptions in the balancing of public interest and individual rights during and outside a pandemic”
LGBTQ2S Rights Chair: Cressida J. Heyes (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Discussant: Julie Rak (Department of English and Film Studies, University of Alberta) Presenter: Miriam Smith (Department of Social Science, York University), “LGBTQ Rights and the Charter at 40: Recent Critiques of the Liberal Rights Model” Presenter: Tobias Wiggins (Women’s and Gender Studies, Athabasca University), The Child as Panic Room: Transgender Youth and a Wish for Anomaly”
Community Presentations Can Compassionate & Collaborative Leadership Combat Racism? Presenter: His Worship Mayor Amarjeet Sohi (City of Edmonton) Moderator: Vasant Chotai (Canadians for a Civil Society) Mayor Amarjeet Sohi’s presentation will focus on how senior leaders can use compassion and collaboration to tackle systemic issues, including racism. He will offer insight into how leaders can practice compassion, engage in uncomfortable but productive conversations, identify discriminatory policies and practices, and change organizational culture. “Covid-19 has exposed many vulnerabilities in our society – increasing homelessness, poverty, seniors care issues, racism and discrimination” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. “I think Covid-19 has also highlighted something wonderful within us – compassion and caring – that we can use to resolve those vulnerabilities.”
Being and Belonging Presenter: Satya Das Moderator: Vasant Chotai (Canadians for a Civil Society)
Gender and Women's Rights Chair: Siobhan Byrne (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Discussant: Linda Trimble (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Presenter: Jennifer Koshan (Faculty of Law, University of Calgary), “Women’s Equality Under the Charter at the Supreme Court of Canada” Presenter: Lise Gotell (Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Alberta), “Charter Challenges to Canada’s Rape Shield Provision"
Freedom of Expression Chair: Andy Knight (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Discussant: Toni Samek (School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta) Presenter: Dax D’Orazio (Department of Political Studies, Queen's University), “What’s Public About Publicly-Funded Universities?: The Law and Politics of Extending Charter Protections to Expression on Campus” Presenter: Emmett Macfarlane (Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo), “Beyond the Hate Speech Law Debate: A ‘Charter Values’ Approach to Freedom of Expression”
Panel Launch: Special Issue of Political Science Undergraduate Review (PSUR) moderated by Zain Velji Panelists: Hailey Lothamer, Salma Ibrahim, Darren Choi, Chloe Dizon (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta)
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Legal and Environmental Rights Chair: Jessica Eisen (Faculty of Law, University of Alberta) Discussant: Patricia Paradis (Centre for Constitutional Studies, University of Alberta) Presenter: Roxana Jahani Aval (Faculty of Law, University of Windsor) “Is Human Dignity a Meaningless Concept for Charter Rights?” Presenter: Lynda M Collins (Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa), “Constitutional Eco-literacy and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms”
Criminal Law and Justice Chair: Temitope Oriola (Department of Sociology, University of Alberta) Discussant: Nykkie Lugosi-Schimpf (Faculty of Native Studies, University of Alberta) Presenters: Adam Thurschwell (Military Commissions Defense Organization, United States Department of Defense) and Catherine Kellogg (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta), “Rights of Extra-territorial detainees: 911@20 and Charter@40” Presenters: Salina Abji (Thinking Forward Network), and Stephanie J. Silverman (Thinking Forward Network) “De-nationalizing the Charter? Non-citizens in immigration detention and the limits of a statist conception of rights and freedoms”
Responsibilities of Canadian Human Rights Commission and Identifying Barriers and Building Solutions Moderator: Nariya Khasanova (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Presenters: Rajvir Gill (Global Centre for Pluralism, Ottawa) and Parveen Parmar (John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights)
The Notwithstanding Clause Chair: Mojtaba Mahdavi (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Discussant: Robert Normey (Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General, Government of Alberta) Presenter: Eric Adams (Faculty of Law, University of Alberta), “Notwithstanding History” Presenter: Mustafa Farooq (National Council of Canadian Muslims), “The Gaze and the Ghutra: Quebec’s Loi 21, The Notwithstanding Clause of the Charter, and the State of Exception 40 Years on"
Decolonizing Human Rights Chair: Yasmeen Abu-Laban (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Discussant: Isabel Altamirano-Jiménez (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta) Presenters: Keith Cherry, Pablo Ouziel, and Rebeccah Nelems (Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria), “Human Rights Assessments (HRAs) in a Decolonizing Key”
Roundtable and Closing Remarks Roundtable Presenters: Catherine Kellogg (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta), Vasant Chotai (Canadians for a Civil Society), Nariya Khasanova (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta), Amer Abuhamed (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta), Rebeca Macias Gimenez (Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria) Closing Remarks: Yasmeen Abu-Laban (Department of Political Science, University of Alberta)
Arts-Based Workshops Arts-based workshops happened concurrently with other conference events. November 9, 1:30-3:30 MST Lights Up: Human Rights Dialogue and the Stage with Rahul Varma and Zachary Jericho Couture